


Grow Up

by voices_in_my_head



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Day 2, HaiKise Week, Kid Fic, Prompt: Children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-02
Packaged: 2018-04-12 14:20:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4482524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voices_in_my_head/pseuds/voices_in_my_head
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Ryouta blinked again a few times, probably making some math, coming up with the realization that Shougo had had a kid at eighteen.</p><p>Daiki had been recruited as a professional player, Akashi had become the youngest shougi champion, Ryouta had participated in a film (although in a small part) and there Shougo had been, having a child. Well, in the long run, he was pretty sure he'd been the luckiest of them all."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grow Up

If anyone had told Shougo ten years ago that he would one day be outside a building waiting for Kise Ryouta to ask for a favour, that person would have been punched. Repeatedly. Then again, there were lots of things that he wouldn't have expected to happen during the last ten years, but hey, here he was.

More than thirty minutes passed with him going through what he was planning on saying over and over, almost walking away at least ten times, before the person he'd been waiting finally went through the doors.

At least he was alone.

Shougo took a deep breath and started walking quickly towards him.

It wasn't long before Ryouta was noticing him. He stopped and arched an eyebrow, “it's been a long time, Shougo-kun.”

Shougo just nodded and Ryouta's eyebrow seemed to climb higher – surely he practised that in front of a mirror.

“I need a favour.”

Ryouta laughed, but it didn't sound particularly happy. But it didn't sound mocking either. He was probably just surprised.

“Of course. What is it? Do you need money?” Ryouta was now looking at him with a bit more of interest and maybe some pity.

Shougo had to take several breaths and spent several seconds just thinking, “don't punch him, don't punch him” and “think of Michi.”

Finally he took a deep breath – he probably had never done that as many times as he was now doing. Fucking Kise.

“My daughter's birthday is in two days and you're her idol. So could you please meet her?”

He had to admit he couldn't help a little satisfied smirk when Ryouta just blinked several times at him. Would have been better if his jaw had gone down but hey, you had to live with the little things.

“Your... your daughter?”

Shougo nodded, “yeah, her name's Michi.”

“That's cute,” Ryouta smiled, a real one, not like those that appeared on the magazines, which mostly seemed to say “fuck me” or “love me”.

“So, will you do it?” Shougo asked, because Michi really was the only reason he was talking to someone he hadn't seen in over a decade and honestly hadn't missed in the least.

“Of course! How old is she turning?”

“Ten.”

Ryouta blinked again a few times, probably making some math, coming up with the realization that Shougo had had a kid at eighteen.

Daiki had been recruited as a professional player, Akashi had become the youngest shougi champion, Ryouta had participated in a film (although in a small part) and there Shougo had been, having a child. Well, in the long run, he was pretty sure he'd been the luckiest of them all.

“When should we meet?”

“She's having a birthday party at three pm at my house, so you can come up after lunch.”

“Do you want me to stay for the party?” Ryouta asked, like it was a perfect normal thing to ask. Hell, maybe Shougo wasn't the first to ask him to be a present for a child.

“Nah. Just show up, wish her a happy birthday and then go.”

“As nice as always, Shougo-kun,” Ryouta replied with a little smirk but Shougo didn't rise to the bait. Tetsu would probably say it was because he'd grown and give one of his looks, but the truth was Shougo still had to go and book a cake. He didn't have time to get into it with old acquaintaces.

So he just took out a paper and a pen from his pocket, and quickly wrote his address and his personal number on it.

“Here's the place and my number if you have any trouble finding it. See you at two pm. Don't be late,” Shougo said and turned to walk away.

“Wait, who told you where to find me?” Ryouta asked but by then Shougo had already walked several steps so he just kept walking, pretending not to have listened.

It wouldn't do to out Tetsuya, after all. Mostly because the little bastard had told him that if he did, he'd give Michi a drum set.

.

If Shougo hadn't had so much to worry about regarding his daughter's birthday party he probably would have worried more about the fact that in less than a day he'd have Kise Ryouta in his house. But as it was, he still had baloons to fill up and candies to put in little bags. He didn't have time to worry.

So when the time finally came, it took Shougo a second after the doorbell rang to remember who it was supposed to be. He looked at Michi, who was concentrating on the puzzle Tetsu had given her that morning, promising to come back later for dinner, and quickly got up.

“Good afternoon, Shougo-kun,” Ryouta said with a pleasant smile when he opened the door.

He wasn't wearing any make-up like the last time they'd met, at least as far as Shougo could tell and he was wearing casual clothes; jeans, a sweater over a shirt and boots. Surprisingly was the pink package he was carrying under one arm.

Shougo looked at it accusingly.

Ryouta laughed before answering the unspoken question, “I couldn't come without a present for the little princess.”

Shougo snorted, “I'd like to see you call her that to her face.”

Ryouta just raised an eyebrow, but didn't reply.

Shougo moved a bit, to give the other space to enter the house. “Come on in, she's in the living room. Wait until I tell her about you.”

“Okay,” Ryouta said with a smile – did he ever stop handing them out? – and did as he was told, taking out his shoes before following Shougo in silence and waiting outside the living room.

“Hey, Michi,” Shougo called when he entered the living room and immediately his daughter's brown eyes were upon him. “I have a surprise for you.”

“Is it a dog?” Michi asked, getting up from where she'd been sitting on the floor.

Shougo shook his head but before she had any time to feel disappointed he called out, “you can come in” and the next two seconds were met with a screech. He hadn't even been aware his daughter's throat was capable of that.

“Hello, I'm Kise Ryouta. Happy birthday. This is for you,” Ryouta said smiling, more softly than Shougo had ever seen him doing, and handed out the package.

Michi took some time to grab it, never taking her eyes from Ryouta, who didn't seem to mind being kept waiting.

“Thank you,” she said in a small voice after finally grabbing it and Shougo just snorted. Of course Ryouta would be able to turn his proud daughter, the one who kept saying boys were “smelly” and what not, into just another fangirl.

She opened it carefully – certainly more carefully than she'd done with the gifts she'd received from Shougo, her mother, or Tetsuya. He almost felt betrayed but reminded himself that he'd been the one to ask Ryouta over.

Shougo had to admit he'd been expecting Ryouta to give her a doll but it turned out to be a series of books.

“Kurokocchi told me you liked to read,” damn, so it hadn't taken Ryouta much to find out from where he'd gathered his information.

Michi looked at him and smiled really big – and right, that was why Shougo had decided to forego his pride and ask for a favour. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome,” Ryouta replied and Shougo was expecting that to be it, for Ryouta to just leave his life as quickly as he'd come in two days before but of course the blond wouldn't comply with his expectations.

He walked towards his daughter and pointed to the puzzle, “would you like some help?”

Michi just nodded, apparently not being able to answer in words and that afternoon she was going to be too busy to gush about Ryouta, but he was pretty sure “Kise-san” was going to be the only word in her vocabulary for the following days.

As promised, Ryouta helped with the puzzle, asking questions about her life, mostly about school or what music she liked to listen. In the beginning, Michi had give just one word answers but before long she was giving out long replies, even telling him some stories, like about her classmates.

Ryouta nodded, laughed or smiled and even commented on all of them, like her stories really were interesting. Well, to Shougo they were; she could spend ten minutes talking about the butterfly she'd just seen and he would still listen with all his attention, but there weren't many adults who were willing to do the same, especially to an unknow child.

Shougo spent his time divided between watching them and making final arrangements for the party – it was unfair how Aiko still got him to do things, even though they'd been separated for years.

At a quarter to three his ex-wife opened the door, raising her eyebrows at the unexpected sight of a celebrity making a puzzle with her daughter.

“I didn't think you'd actually go through with it,” she murmured at Shougo when she found him in the kitchen, gluing papers to the cups so that the kids could write their names on them.

Shougo just shrugged but Aiko looked at him knowingly. There wasn't, after all, many details about Teiko, the Generation of Miracles and everything to do with it that she didn't know about.

“Will he stay for the party?”

“Not supposed to. Did you bring the cake?”

She smiled and immediately opened the box she'd been carrying. Then she pouted at him, “I can't believe you got our daughter a cake with dinossaurs in it.”

“You know she likes them,” Shougo replied but he knew Aiko wasn't really upset. They'd both agreed years ago that they were going to do their best to make sure their daughter turned up a happy and healthy child and that meant supporting her in her interests.

“The kids are probably about to get here,” she said once some minutes had been spent in silence.

Shougo just nodded and went to the living room. The puzzle was done and now Michi was staring attentively at Ryouta, who was telling a story about his first photo shoot.

“The party's about to start,” he said to the air and then smiled at Michi, “your mom's in the kitchen. Go say hi.”

Michi got up slowly, probably not wanting to leave Ryouta, but he too got up.

“It's okay, I have things to do anyway. I hope you have a great party, Michi-chan.”

“Thank you,” Michi said with a smile, showing off the two missing teeth. She started walking away but stopped after some seconds and turned back, “will you come back?”

Shougo opened his mouth to say no, how Ryouta had a busy life and what not but he was beat to it by the model.

“If your father doesn't mind. I'd love to hear what your teacher thinks about your science project.”

Michi turned to her father immediately, and Shougo blamed Tetsuya one hundred percent on where she'd learnt the act of making puppy eyes. “Please dad, can Kise-san come visit us again?”

Well, what was he supposed to do? Say no and upset his daughter right before her party? Besides, maybe she'd forget even if he did say yes – yeah, right, she probably wasn't going to stop asking when “Kise-san” was coming to visit.

Knowing he was trapped either way, Shougo sighed and answered, “yeah, he can come visit when he's not busy.”

“Iei!” Michi said and ran to him, hugging him tightly. Shougo didn't care if Ryouta was staring or not, he still hugged his daughter back.

Then he kissed the top of her head and pulled back.

“Go on to the kitchen. Your mom brought the cake.”

“Iei!” She said again, running to the kitchen.

“So you're coming to visit again, uhm?” Shougo turned with a glare to Ryouta, who just smiled innocently. That didn't deter Shougo's glare at all. Instead he took several steps and pointed at Ryouta, “I don't care if you still have issues with me, just don't you dare to promise something to my daughter and not fulfill.”

“I would never do that to a child, Shougo-kun,” Ryouta replied and he seemed honest. Whatever, Shougo had more important things to care about. The blond took out a paper and handed it out, “here's my number. Text me with a time and I'll see if I can make it. I hope the party turns out great.”

“Thanks,” Shougo replied, not being used to a nice Ryouta. Then again, the last time they'd talked had been during a basketball game and everyone knew how well it turned out. Mostly with Shougo knocked out and yeah, his pride hadn't fully recovered that yet.

He took the paper and ushered Ryouta out. The last thing he needed was a parent seeing him and coming up with wild ideas. With his luck, it would probably be Hamasaki-san, the journalist, seeing him.

Once the door was locked Shougo sighed, a big one, and then plastered a smile on his face. It wouldn't do to scare Michi's friends – or their parents.

.

It was almost seven pm and all kids had already left, now Shougo was setting the table for dinner while Aiko finished the lasagna. Of course even from the living room Shougo could still hear Michi's excited talking.

Even though her mother had been present during the whole afternoon, Michi still felt the need to tell her about... well, pretty much everything. She hadn't spent much time talking about the presents, but she'd already told several stories about her friends and of course Ryouta had been the main character of many other tales, even though he'd only been with her for less than an hour.

Better Aiko than Shougo, he reasoned. He really didn't need to hear his daughter gushing about his rival. Not that he was that nowadays; Shougo worked in a business company, Ryouta was a model, actor, singer and probably something else and as far as he was concerned, basketball was just a sport he sometimes played in the gym or even with Tetsuya, if the other was feeling too nostalgic.

Tetsuya would probably say he was just jealous his daughter was so in love with Ryouta – and then tell a story about his former's Coach dad and everytime he heard about him he always felt some respect towards Tetsu's former Captain for marrying into that family. If Shougo was being honest with himself, he might agree just a bit with his old friend. But really, the fact that it was Ryouta and not a stranger just put more salt into the wound.

Finally the doorbell rang and Shougo went to open the door to Tetsu and Satsuki.

“Good evening, Shougo-kun,” Tetsuya immediately said and at least he didn't bow anymore. Still, it had taken Shougo over three years to get him to drop the Haizaki. They'd probably be old when Tetsuya finally agreed to drop the -kun.

“Hello, Shou-chan. How was the party?” Satsuki asked with a smile, holding onto a small bag. Unlike Tetsu she hadn't had the time to pass through their house before work to drop off her gift.

“It was good.”

“Did Michi-chan enjoy the surprise?” Satsuki asked with a glint in her pink eyes and Shougo didn't even pretend to feel upset. She and Tetsu told each other everything; they probably knew exactly what underwear the other was wearing and it didn't have anything to do with the fact that they'd probably gotten dressed at the same time.

“Yeah. She loved Ryouta. Now come on, get in. Aiko is just finishing making the lasagna.”

“I should have come earlier to help,” Statsuki replied with a little pout and a shudder went through Shougo before he could prevent it. The woman laughed and punched him in the arm (she'd spent way too much time with Daiki growing up), “you know I've gotten better.”

“Being able to cook something without the fire department being called doesn't make you a good cook,” Shougo said.

“They once came for you too, Shougo-kun,” Tetsu immediately jumped in.

Before Shougo could reply, Aiko's voice sounded from the living room, “he got you there, Shou.”

He rolled his eyes, knowing he was never winning at those two joining forces. So he just stepped aside and let the couple in. After taking off their shoes they all went to the living room.

“Oji-chan! Oba-chan!” Michi's excited voice sounded and she was quickly hugging her “uncle” and “aunt” and didn't even bother to listen when Satsuki was trying to give her her birthday present, instead immediately retelling every single detail of her day, probably planning on telling her everything from how she'd first woken up to a present from her daddy to the minute before the couple rang the doorbell.

Shougo just rolled his eyes at Aiko and went to grab the food. Michi was going to take a while before she was finished.

.

As expected, Shougo, Aiko, Tetsu and Satsu had almost finished eating when Michi finally stopped talking, having barely touched her food, whining at Shougo whenever he pointed that out because she simply had “so much to tell them, papa.”

Of course he had to hear Ryouta's name being mentioned several times, but he only rolled his eyes the first time – he was trying to make sure he didn't need glasses before he turned forty.

“It sounds like you had a great time, Mi-chan,” Satsuki said when the little girl had finally finished and started to eat.

At least she had good manners, chewing and swallowing before answering, “I had the best day, oba-chan! And Kise-san promised to visit again!”

“Oh?” Satsuki made a curious sound, but turned her eyes to Shougo, sending him a smile that he didn't bother try to decipher. He'd leave that job to her boyfriend.

Shougo just shrugged, following his daughter's example of finishing eating before speaking. “Yeah, if he's not busy.”

“I'm sure he'll find some minutes to meet with such an amazing little girl,” Aiko said, looking at Michi, who just smiled at her mother and continued to eat.

After that Michi asked Satsuki about Dai-san, who she'd only met twice, but loved to see him in the TV.

“He has a game in two weeks.”

“He'll be playing against Kagami-kun,” Tetsu said and then Michi asked to hear about the “Japanese Tiger”, whom she hadn't actually met, but was expecting to any day, because Tetsu kept telling her how he'd introduce them the next time the mentioned Tiger came to visit.

Shougo just listened to the conversation, making a small remark here and there when Satsuki started dishing out each player's statistic, trying to figure out who would be the winner.

In the end Michi sided with Satsuki, claiming Dai-san would win while the other three betted on the Kagami. In fact, that's what they ended up doing: a bet.

Losers would have to do something the winners wanted. Shougo and Aiko would probably turn this into a way of getting Michi to go to bed earlier. Tetsu could do what he wanted with Satsuki; Shougo just didn't want to hear the details.

“Is there any cake left for us?” Satsuki asked with a little smile once Michi had finished eating.

“Of course! We have to sing again!” Michi said and immediately ran to the kitchen to get the cake, Aiko on her heels to make sure she didn't drop the cake and to get the dishes.

“When will Ki-chan come again?” Satsuki asked, once again using that damn smile, the one that said she knew more than whoever she was talking to. It was a smile Shougo had gotten used to seeing over the years, unfortunately.

Shougo shrugged, “I don't know, we didn't make plans. He just told me to text him with a time.”

“And will you, Shougo-kun?” Tetsu asked, knowing Shougo too well to know he certainly would have thought about promising that and not actually going on with it.

“Did you count how many times Michi mentioned him? I'm pretty sure she'll be asking me twenty times a day until I do it.”

The couple shared a look.

“What?” Shougo asked, without any bite.

“You'd be willing to share your time with Michi with Ki-chan?” Satsuki asked in a weird tone, like she wasn't sure she should be asking.

Shougo just shrugged, “it's not like he'll be spending the whole day with us. Besides, he seemed to actually be interested in her, so... It'll make her happy.”

Tetsu sent him a proud look while Satsuki almost flew over the table trying to hug him.

“Why are you trying to smother daddy?” Michi asked.

“I'm hugging him!”

“Why?”

“Because he's grown so much!” She wailed, and after some seconds of Shougo awkwardly patting her back, she finally withdrew.

“You're weird, oba-chan,” Michi said, but she was smiling. “Now come on, let's sing! Then you can help me with my new puzzle.”

“Didn't you already finish it?”

“Yeah, but I had to put it away for the party,” Michi answered in a tone that said, “duh” and then grabbed onto her mother's sleeve, trying to get her to get on with lightening the candles.

.

In the end it took almost a week and a half before Shougo sent a text to Ryouta.

It wasn't, of course, that his daughter had forgotten about it. They simply hadn't found a schedule that would allow for a visit, seeing as she'd only spent Wednesday and Thursday nights with him, having already spent the weekend with him. So Aiko had the following weekend, Shougo then had Monday and Tuesday and finally the coming weekend. It was only on Wednesday that he finally sent a text to Ryouta, after having spent his days being asked about “when Kise-san would come to visit” and he was taken back to Satsuki's question about not minding sharing his time with Michi.

It wasn't like he didn't already share it with Tetsu and Satsuki sometimes, but they were like family at this point. Michi even spent some nights with them sometimes. Ryouta, for all purposes, was a stranger and yet, Shougo didn't see a problem in asking him to have dinner with them.

As with most things that implied thinking about feelings and what not, Shougo just pretended there was nothing wrong with it, instead thinking of the dinner he'd be cooking and whether it was coming time to introduce Aiko's new boyfriend to Michi or not.

“When is he coming, daddy?” Michi asked for the third time in less than five minutes.

“At seven pm. It's only six, sweety,” Shougo told her with a smile and pointed at the clock on the kitchen wall, hoping she'd stop asking and instead start looking at it.

“Oh,” she said, obviously disappointed. An hour seemed like such an eternity for a little girl.

“Is your room all tidy?”

“Yes...” Michi answered, not looking at him. He just raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to look up. When she did it, she sighed, “it's almost.”

“You should finish it. It'll make the time pass quicker. Besides, you don't want Kise-san to think you're not a big girl, do you?”

Michi sent him a look that said she knew exactly what he was doing but she still nodded and went to her bedroom. Shougo got back to cutting the vegetables.

He would never become a chef, but he could put together a good meal, and for that night he'd decided on a curry. He'd be making some noodles as well, since Michi didn't like to eat more than a small portion of curry, even though his barely had any spices.

Thirty minutes passed with just the sound of his cooking before Michi was standing in the kitchen, asking once again when Ryouta would come.

This time, instead of giving her another chore to complete, Shougo just tried to pass the time by asking her questions about what she'd done the previous weekend with her mom, even though she'd told most of it on Monday. Of course with Michi there were always more stories.

She was telling him about the game she and some friends had invented the previous day when the doorbell rang and she immediately ran to the door.

Shougo didn't even try to stop her, just listening closely to make sure she opened the door to Ryouta and not some stranger.

“Hello, Michi-chan. These are for you,” Ryouta's voice sounded, handing her something – chocolates or flowers?

“Thank you, Kise-san,” her voice sounded shy and some seconds later, “they smell really well.” So flowers it had been. “Would you like to come in?”

“Yes, thank you,” Ryouta said and Shougo cleaned his hands before walking into the living room.

The bouquet Michi was holding was probably bigger than the one Aiko had had at their wedding and there were flowers of all kinds and colours in it.

“Give it to me, I'll put them in water,” Shougo said to Michi, who handed them out carefully. “Thanks,” he said to Ryouta, who smiled and nodded.

He went back to the kitchen, also making sure the food wasn't burning and continued to pay attention to what was happening in the other room.

Ryouta was asking about her party and once again, Michi's replies went from one syllable to long ones.

After about five minutes Shougo finally had everything done and took the dishes to the table, calling the other two.

Michi went first, telling Ryouta about what her daddy had made for dinner and how she hoped he liked curry, even though it wasn't her favourite, she still liked to eat it and everyone else said it was really good. Better than oba-chan's, anyway.

Yeap, his daughter's shyness had gone away just as fast as it had first appeared.

Ryouta and Michi were the ones keeping the conversation alive, while Shougo just listened, offering one comment here or there, mostly on his daughter's stories, otherwise Ryouta might really believe he let her do everything she wanted – which he might, but at least he made sure she was always safe.

Michi talked about school and her family while Ryouta talked about his job and friends. Eventually Michi asked about how they'd met each other, and Shougo wondered if someone had talked about it, Aiko, Tetsu or Satsuki or if his daughter was simply that smart.

“We went to the same middle school and spent some weeks on the basketball team together,” Ryouta answered Shougo couldn't help but snort, earning a raised eyebrow from Ryouta, but he just shook his head. Not like he wanted his daughter to know what a giant douchebag he'd been on his teen years. What if she decided to copy him in a few years? He shuddered just thinking of that. At least Aiko had been a much calmer teen, aside from the whole dating him, of course. Yeah, he wasn't sure which parent he'd prefer Michi to copy either.

“Were you good?” Michi asked Ryouta. “My dad sometimes plays with his friends. He always wins!”

Ryouta glances at him quickly before turning back to Michi with a smile, and did his face never hurt from smiling so much? “Yes, I was.”

“Oh! That means you played with Dai-san!” Michi exclaimed after some seconds of quiet contemplation. Of course she'd think of that.

Again, Ryouta raised an eyebrow at Shougo, who could almost see the wheels turning in his brain – first Tetsu, now Daiki... Well, if it made the other feel better, him and Daiki got along about as good as they had during middle school, except now they resorted to witty lines instead of punches. Not that that stopped Daiki from mentioning knocking him out once in a while all proud; but never around Michi, the guy wasn't that much of an asshole.

“He was actually the one that got me to join the basketball team in the first place.”

“What happened?” Michi asked in the tone of one who was expecting an epic tale. Shougo wasn't expecting something quite of that level but he'd never heard the story either; one day he'd just been told a new member would be joining first-string and that had been it. So he too paid attention.

“You know, growing up there wasn't many things I couldn't copy. It just took some minutes of watching someone do something and I could immediately do it too.”

“Like a mirror,” Michi interrupted and Ryouta laughed, and Shougo had to stop himself from thinking “beautiful” because yeah, that was a can of worms he had no desire to open.

“Yes, like a mirror. Anyway, one day I saw him play and the thing was, I could never copy him. I tried and tried, but I never could do it, not until two years had passed.”

“That must have been horrible,” Michi said in a comiserating tone but again Ryouta laughed, this time a bit differently, although Shougo couldn't explain what exactly had been different.

“I didn't like to lose, no, but it made me try harder. I practised everyday, at least for a while, just so I could beat him.”

“And did you ever do it?” Michi asked, once again with a glint in her eyes, like a basketball match between two kids was the most exciting thing in the world.

“I did. During the second year of our highschool years my team finally won against his.”

Michi clapped her hands twice, “iei!”

Ryouta laughed at her and that was what had been different in his previous laugh. He was looking fond, more comfortable. Ryouta always looked comfortable; after all, he was a model but now he was looking a bit more... like a twenty-eight year old, perhaps, just passing time with friends. It looked good on him.

“What about against daddy? Did you ever win against him?”

“Yes, on the first year of highschool. But it wasn't an easy match.”

Shougo snorted, “you were miles ahead and we both know it.”

Ryouta looked surprised at him and Shougo understood. He was still expecting that angry little kid, the one with cornrows and who'd treated women horribly to make an appearance. Shougo couldn't say he was completely changed; somethings never left you, but having Michi had definitely changed some big parts and one of them had been to let go of all that childish anger. He had had a beautiful baby to take care of; rivalry because of basketball just hadn't been on his mind at the time and when he'd finally thought of it... it had just been with a bit of nostalgia and some regret at everything he had done.

“Do you think Dai-san is going to win against Kagami-san? Daddy, mommy and oji-chan say he's going to lose.”

Not having trouble following Michi's reasoning, Ryouta put a finger under his jaw, rubbing it, as if in deep thought.

“I don't know. It has been a while since they've played against each other and during highschool they were always playing together. Sometimes one won, sometimes the other did.”

“Yeah, but who's better? Did you ever lose against Kagami-san?”

“Yes, I did. He's a very good player,” once again he went silent, but after some seconds he simply shrugged, “I don't know who'll win. Guess we'll find out tomorrow.”

“Yeah...” Michi said, not satisfied with the answer.

“Have you met Kagamicchi?”

Michi shook her head. “Not yet, but oji-chan says he'll introduce us when he comes visit.”

“What about Aominecchi?”

When Michi frowned, Shougo explained, “Dai-san.”

“Oh! Yeah, I've met him. He grew up with oba-chan. He's funny.”

Ryouta laughed, an abrupt sound, like he hadn't been expecting that and Michi smiled, proud at herself. Shougo just looked on, wondering a bit about how his life had turned out like this.

After that Shougo brought out the desert, a chocolate cake he'd baked with Michi in the afternoon.

“You know, I really need to watch what I eat to fit in my clothes,” Ryouta asked after accepting a slice from Shougo, who just snorted.

“You look as good as always,” Shougo said before he could stop himself and Ryouta raised an eyebrow, stopping for just one second with the fork halfway to his mouth.

Then he smirked and said, “just good, Shougo-kun?” And okay, Shougo definitely had to remind himself that he was in the presence of his small daughter and that he should not stare at his ex-teammate eating cake.

Luckily the rest of the meal passed without any trouble, with Ryouta congratulating him on the cake, Shougo passing the compliment to Michi and then Ryouta asking when she'd be becoming the next big Japanese chef, which of course just made her laugh.

So maybe Ryouta was bringing back feelings that had been gone for years and that Shougo wanted to keep away, but he couldn't really hate the other guy when he made his daughter happy like that.

“What should we do now?” Michi asked when they had all finished eating, looking excitedely from one adult to another. Ryouta was sitting relaxed, while Shougo had completely forgone all manners and was draped over his chair almost like a cat. Maybe that third slice had been a mistake.

“What would you like to do?” Ryouta asked and Michi frowned, thinking hard.

“I don't know... oh, can I watch you and daddy play basketball?”

Shougo, who had been balancing himself on just two legs of the chair, immediately went forward, resting on all fours. He had not been expecting that.

“You know we shouldn't play sports after just eating,” Ryouta said and Shougo wondered if he was really concerned about that, or if he simply didn't want to play.

“Oh,” his daughter said, but this time Shougo didn't give her time to think.

“What if we watch a film?” He asked. Knowing his daughter she'd probably come up with some horrible idea, like playing karaoke or something like that.

“Okay!” She smiled and turned to Ryouta, “what would you like to watch?”

He shrugged, “whatever you want is fine. What's your favourite film?”

“Incredibles!” She immediately answered. “Can we watch it, daddy?”

Shougo nodded and she got up to go and grab the DVD.

He sighed before getting up.

“You don't like the film, Shougo-kun?” Ryouta asked with a little smile.

“I don't like any film that I've been made to watch for over fifty times.”

Ryouta's musical laughter followed him to the sofa and wait, had he just thought of the blonde's laughter as musical? He was just going to blame it on the fact that he hadn't had gotten laid in years. Not that he was thinking of Ryouta and sex on the same page. Yeah, definitely not doing that.

Michi had already put the DVD on the player and was now sitting on one end of the couch. Of course she said, “Kise-chan, please it beside me,” to which the blond agreed with a laugh and Shougo almost wanted to argue about putting her between them but in the end he accepted his fate. The couch was big enough for two grown men and a small child for there not to be any akward touching.

Of course, halfway through the film he was revisiting that idea when Ryouta's leg was suddenly pressed against his. Shougo waited for some seconds for Ryouta to pull away but he never did. Shougo looked at him, but the model seemed completely focused on the film.

Shougo should probably be focused too, but seriously, he could probably quote every single sentence in the film, both in Japanese and in English – Michi liked to trade; right now they were watching in Japanese. So instead he was left feeling like every single cell on his body was connected to his leg.

He suppressed a sigh. What even was Ryouta doing? Was it really an innocent gesture; he'd always been a physical guy and maybe he considered Shougo an almost friend by this point. Maybe he was just messing with him, although Shougo couldn't see what his endgame would be and okay, the guy might still be a bit childish, but he didn't seem like a mean guy. Or maybe this was his way of flirting. Yeah, Shougo wasn't projecting or anything.

In the end he simply had to endure for the last thirty minutes of the film. Well, it wasn't like he couldn't have pulled away, there was still some space in the sofa for him to take and he could pretend this was all a matter of how he'd been “there first and Ryouta should have been the one to pull away” but truthfully he was feeling a bit excited. Like maybe, just maybe, the flirting possibility wasn't just in his head.

The minute the film was over he was getting up and taking out the DVD. He wasn't really surprised to look back and see Michi asleep. She'd been awake for a lot of hours and had done a lot during the afternoon.

“I'm gonna put her in bed,” Shougo said and picked her up carefully, not wanting to wake her up.

He didn't wait for Ryouta's answer before he was walking through the house, going up the stairs to her room.

With some practised moves he was able to get take her pants off, deciding to keep the shirt, and put her under the covers without her waking up. Or perhaps she was pretending; kids did like to do that sometimes, just to get picked up. Then again, it was unlikely she'd willing throw away her time with Ryouta.

He kissed her forehead and quietly left the room.

He couldn't really stop himself from going to the bathroom just to check his appearance and he was perfectly aware he wasn't making any sense; two weeks ago he didn't even think about Kise Ryouta outside from a once in a while thought when catching his image somewhere, now he was... what? Thinking maybe they could have a romantic relationship?

Just because he'd gotten over their rivalry – more like completely forgotten about it, didn't mean the other was.

He looked into the mirror. The earrings were gone, just like the piercings he'd had during the first few years of Mishi's life. Nowadays he walked around with his beard trimmed – Aiko had always had him shave it all off every couple of days – and his hair, which had gone back to its normal hair colour, was buzzed short.

Shougo had never spent much time thinking about what others thought when they looked at him, at least not aside from the whole, “I need to get a good job and I can't do it with cornrows or piercings” so he really couldn't imagine what Ryouta saw when he looked at him.

But he did know what he saw when he looked at the blond. He looked like an older Ryouta, just as sexy and irresistible as he'd always been and yeah, Shougo had had a small crush on him during Teiko, but he was over it. Really, ihe was. He wasn't a teenager anymore to have a crush on another teenager and he didn't feel like he had a crush on Ryouta; the other man could disappear from his life forever and he wouldn't really care. Right now Ryouta was just a maybe. It had been several years since Shougo had had time to feel an interest in someone, and now that he had... his brain seemed to have simply chosen the sexiest guy around – he couldn't really blame it.

Realizing he'd probably stayed upstairs for more than enough time to put Michi to bed, he quickly left the bathroom, turning off the light.

He went down walking normally, knowing that when Michi fell asleep, she fell asleep hard. It would take a pretty big bang to wake her up.

When he got down Ryouta was sprawled on his couch. Shougo raised an eyebrow and couldn't say he was really surprised when he just got a raised one in answer. So he rolled his eyes and continued towards the kitchen.

“Do you want some sake?”

“Sure, if that's alright,” Ryouta asked, with some doubt.

“No worries, it's just a glass. I don't usually go around getting drunk when I have Michi to take care of.”

Apparently he hadn't been able to keep some anger from his voice because when Ryouta answered, his voice was coming from much closer, from the doorway, in fact. “I didn't think you did.”

Shougo just handed him a glass in silence.

Ryouta took a sip before saying, “you're a really good dad.”

He snorted, “surprised?”

“A bit, yes. I'm more surprised about how you ended up friends with Kurokocchi.”

“Haven't figured that out, uhm?” Shougo asked with a smile because yeah, that had been unexpected for him too.

Ryouta just kept sipping his drink and looking at him, obviously waiting for an answer.

Shougo shrugged, “nothing secret about it. Tetsu was simply doing his internship at Michi's kindergarten and that was it. We started talking and then he was coming around, and me and Michi were going to his house...” he shrugged again, “if you'd told me ten years ago he'd become my best friend, I wouldn't have believed you either, but here we are.”

“He said you're the one that told him to ask Satsuki on a date.”

Shougo snorted and then guffawed. “Obviously. Can you believe that guy told me, “I'm just not sure she feels the same, Shougo-kun,” he said, trying to imitate Tetsu's voice, but probably failing, seeing as he couldn't keep the scorn out of his voice. He shook his head, “just glad he took my advice. Sooner or later she was gonna stop waiting for him; she's a great woman.”

“She is,” Ryouta replied and took another sip, this time a bit bigger, still not looking away from Shougo's eyes, who was starting to feel a bit under the spotlight. Still, he wasn't going to break the eye contact. “You've really grown, Shougo-kun.”

“I'm a dad, so,” Shougo replied, putting some more sake on his cup, but not too much. He certainly didn't want a hangover the following day.

Ryouta shrugged, “for some people that doesn't matter. You could have walked away from the baby. You could not care about her at all. But... you're probably one of the best parents I've ever met.”

Shougo, for the first time in years, could feel himself blush. He rubbed his neck.

“I didn't really know what I was going to do when Aiko said she was pregnant. I told my mom. She said we had to get married and we did, even though we weren't in love and knew it. Anyway, then we started living with my mom, since her parents threw her out. Don't worry, they came around some months later,” Shougo said at Ryouta's look. He took another sip. The last time he'd talked about those first few months had been with Tetsu, more than five years before. “I never thought of walking away. That's what my dad did and I know how hard it was for my mom to raise me and my brother so even if I had to work fifteen hours a day, I was gonna. But... the moment I saw Michi,” he smiled softly at Ryouta, not really seeing him, but remembering the small baby he'd held for the first time, worrying about whether he was going to drop her or not and how she was so small and cute, not at all like him, and had he really helped in making that?

“She was perfect. Still is. I wouldn't have cared if I had to work twenty-four hours a day as long as I got to make her happy.”

He was looking at his glass when he felt a touch on his hand. Looking up Ryouta was smiling softly at him.

“I'm really glad you came to me two weeks ago,” and then he kissed him.

It wasn't anything like how Shougo had imagined in his teenage years. There was no angst, instead it was just a simple touch of lips.

He exhaled through his nose, being pretty sure that if he kept the air inside, he'd pass out sooner or later. Then he put the glass on the counter, not having to look to know where it was, and finally brought a hand to Ryouta's cheek, while the other went around his waist.

The kiss deepened, but they still didn't open their mouths, it was still just lips insisting against each other.

Finally, they parted, but Shougo didn't let go, not allowing Ryouta to move away. Not that he seemed that uncomfortable in his arms.

“I like the hair,” Ryouta said in a small tone, like he didn't want to burst whatever bubble they were in.

“Is that why you kissed me?” Shougo replied, also in a small tone, and smiling, rubbing a small part of skin right by Ryouta's lips.

Ryouta shrugged, but didn't say anything.

“Why did you kiss me?” Shougo asked, not stopping his massage and hoping his voice just sounded curious. He didn't really want to step into any serious ground, but he still thought they should have a conversation. He was a dad, he couldn't just have one flings like it was nothing, not while Michi was upstairs, anyway, and besides, this was someone his daughter was growing attached to. He wouldn't jeopardize that.

Ryouta finally stepped away from the touch, moving until there was some steps between them, but close enough that they could touch if they stretched.

“I don't really know. I just felt like doing it.”

Shougo understood the blond didn't really mean anything by it; a few years ago Shougo would have gone along with it but now he had responsibilities.

Still, he crossed his arms. Then he uncrossed them and sighed, passing a hand through his face. His beard was probably getting too big.

“I get what you mean. But this can't happen just because. Michi really likes you and I'm not sure if we have a one-night stand if we can then just act like it never happened.”

“What if it's not just a one-night stand?” Ryouta asked with his eyes shining.

Shougo just looked at him.

“I'm not saying for us to get married or anything, but...” he took a step forward, “we could see how it goes.”

“Date, you mean?”

Ryouta laughed, a free sound. “If you'd like to.”

“I don't even remember the last time I went on a date.”

“Don't worry, it'll be fun. It always is, around me,” Ryouta said and then stuck his tongue out.

“What about Michi?”

“We shouldn't tell her, of course. But... I like her too and I don't want to see her hurt.”

“What if we break up?”

“Already thinking of that, Shougo-kun?” Ryouta said with a joking face, but it quickly turned into a serious one. “Then I'll do what you think is best for her.”

Shougo nodded. Then he nodded a couple more times for emphasis, “okay. Let's do this.”

“Couldn't you be a bit more romantic, Shougo-kun?”

Shougo rolled his eyes, “would you like to try being in a relationship with me, Ryouta?”

Ryouta smiled and put a hand on his cheek, “not try. I am going to be in a relationship with you.”

And then they were kissing and there weren't fireworks or anything like that, but it was still good. Really good.

Then Ryouta was moving away and laughing.

“What are you laughing at?”

“I can't wait to see Kasamatsucchi's face when I tell him I'm dating you.”

Shougo rolled his eyes and grabbed onto the other's colar to pull him in. “Less talking, more kissing.”

“That's still not romantic,” Ryouta said but complied.

Shougo was going to tell the other how he was going to get many opportunities to teach him how to be romantic but decided instead to follow his advice. There would be time to talk later.


End file.
